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There's been some talk on Lion's new user interfaces and the removal of active indicators to show active applications in the Dock. Does this mean the Dock itself is set for change? A recent Apple patent suggests change may be on its way.

A new European patent filing has emerged which describes an all-new system of "scrollable menus and toolbars." As described the feature is something that's set for both iOS and Mac OS devices, and represents another step away from hierarchical computer menus.

Lion, anti-hierarchical king of the jungle

It replaces hierarchies, by which I mean those endless lists in drop down menus, toolbars and tool palettes by a scrollable window, in which functions would be more clearly displayed and through which you'd flick using MultiTouch-style gestures.

Chicago Times' Mac pundit Andy Ihnatko recently said that the evolution of full screen apps within Lion underlines a move toward non-hierarchical menu structures, in which user convenience becomes ever more important, and navigation of an application's features becomes ever more transparent.

The focus remains the same -- transforming the object-based logic of Mac OS X into an object-based user experience in which complexity is replaced by clarity -- but with no loss of what is useful. Lion will be remembered as a moment when touch interfaces and user convenience became the new goals of the tech industry.

It is all about the user, so Apple will allow Mac users to change the order in which commands or functions are displayed in the scrollable menu.

Depending on where you are (and, presumably, which gestures you may use) you will be presented with different options: File, Save and Print, for example, or key application-specific drawing tools, for example.

The new menu patent also offers you a range of different menu behaviors -- some menus let you select from a circle of options, others act like tickertape with a limited number of menus inside.

"Lion brings many of the best ideas from iPad back to the Mac, plus some fresh new ones like Mission Control that Mac users will really like," said Jobs, during the Apple event in October. "Lion has a ton of new features, and we hope the few we had time to preview today will give users a good idea of where we are headed."